FISHING-RODS. 231 



to land any Black Bass that swims with a well-matle six 

 ounce split bamboo fly-rod, I will not undertake to say 

 how much time would be consumed in the operation; nor 

 do I envy the general demoralization and used-up condi- 

 tion of the flexors and extensors of my arms that would 

 ensue at the close of the contest. With a rod of suitable 

 weight, the largest Bass can be safely and pleasantly han- 

 dled, and it is worse than useless to make a toil of a pleas- 

 ure by using inadequate means. 



I have an H. L. Leonard split bamboo fly-rod, weigh- 

 ing eight ounces, which I find " fills the bill " exactly in 

 all ordinary Black Bass fly-fishing; but, two years since, 

 in Florida, I used a twelve feet, twelve ounce ash and 

 lancewood fly-rod, made by Abbey & Imbrie, or at least 

 by their predecessors, Andrew Clerk & Co., ten years ago, 

 which I found none too heavy for the large Bass of the 

 waters of that State, and, in fact, there were times when 

 I Avished for an additional ounce or two in w^cight. 



A Trout fly-rod, then, weighing eight or nine ounces, 

 and not more than eleven feet long, is just about right for 

 ordinary Black Bass fly-fishing; but where the Bass run 

 large, averaging nearly or quite three pounds, a somewhat 

 heavier rod, say ten ounces, will be found a more suitable 

 and pleasanter rod to handle, though the eight ounce rod 

 will do even here, for one who is an expert fly-fisher, and 

 who does not mind a little extra straining of the brachial 

 muscles. 



But while an ounce, more or less, hardly seems an ap- 

 preciable quantity in the abstract, yet when added to or 

 taken from a fly-rod, like the fraction of an inch as applied 

 to a man's nose, it makes a very great difference in prac- 

 tice and reality ; and in the former case, it is better to have 



